Pitch Purchases: Vehicles For Jonah Hill And Harold & Kumar Creators
Couple of short stories for you today about new films that are a ways down the road. First up, according toVariety, Universal has purchased a pitch byAndrew Jay CohenandBrendan O’BriencalledThe Best Thing About Pam Rooney. It’s a “high-concept” romantic comedy, and it will be developed as a starring project forJonah Hill. Cohen and O’Brien are vets of Judd Apatow’s stable; they’ll exec produce. Next up: something new for the twoHarold & Kumarcreators.
THRreports that writerJosh Friedlanderhas soldOne Night Stanto Lionsgate. The original comedy script will go into the hands ofHarold & Kumar Go to White CastlewritersJon HurwitzandHayden Schlossberg, who will take on directing duties for the comedy. (They also directed the second Harold & Kumar movie.)One Night Stanis also high-concept stuff, as a guy (Stan), about to be married, discovers that his fiancée has been with more sexual partners than he has. For some reason, she allows him one night to catch up to her tally (I hope there’s a double-digit discrepancy) but, predictably, his attempt at creating a smorgasbord of sex doesn’t really work out. There are obvious reasons for Lionsgate to jump on this: afterThe Hangover, anything that smells of affordable R-rated comedy is going to be appetizing, and Hurwitz and Schlossberg have proven themselves with turning raunchy stuff into a minor moneymaking machine.
THR does note that comedy isn’t really Lionsgate’s thing (Tyler Perry movies are the only real success the studio’s had with comedy) but this should be an easy layup. Definitely not a blockbuster, unless some alchemically perfect cast is assembled, but even so, sounds like easy money. And since I enjoyed the second H&K movie a lot more than I ever would have expected, I’ll probably get suckered into this one, too.
